Scotland are one home win away from securing a place in next year’s World Cup despite suffering a 3-2 defeat by Greece on Saturday, with Denmark’s 2-2 draw with Belarus in the other Group C game offering a lifeline and setting up a blockbuster clash with the Danes tomorrow.
Denmark top the group with 11 points after five games. Scotland, who could not find an equalizer even though they clawed back from three goals down, are second with 10 points after suffering their first defeat of the campaign.
While a first-place finish clinches an automatic spot in next year’s finals in the US, Mexico and Canada, Saturday’s result guaranteed Scotland at least a qualifying playoff spot.
Photo: AP
Already-eliminated Greece looked poised to hand their visitors a thorough thrashing, with goals from Tasos Bakasetas, Konstantinos Karetsas and Christos Tzolis, but Scotland’s Ben Gannon-Doak and Ryan Christie pulled goals back to set up a breathtaking final few minutes.
After the final whistle blew, the Scottish players and staff peered at their phones for updates from the Belarus-Denmark match during an agonizing final few minutes.
“That’s what we wanted [to still have a chance of qualifying automatically],” Scotland captain Andy Robertson told the BBC.
Photo: AP
“We cannot concede three goals, that’s hugely disappointing. We had eight or nine really big chances so we got the attacking bit right tonight,” he said. “Winner takes all on Tuesday, that’s all we could ask for. People were writing us off from the start of the group now we’ve got a shoot-out to win the group and it’s all to play for on Tuesday.”
Bakasetas scored in the seventh minute in a nightmare start for Scotland. John Souttar misjudged a ball, allowing Vangelis Pavlidis to take a shot that Craig Gordon saved, but Bakasetas was there to fire home the rebound.
Karetsas added a second goal in the 57th minute, and Tzolis fired in a third in the 63rd — and it seemed like the rout was on.
Gannon-Doak breathed some hope into Steve Clarke’s side in the 65th minute when John McGinn sent in a low cross that the 20-year-old finished from close range for his first Scotland goal.
Christie added a second five minutes later when he nodded home Andy Robertson’s gorgeous cross from the left.
Scotland’s “Tartan Army” fans in Athens also had their eyes on the other Group C game, and erupted into cheers when Belarus scored.
“Fans cheering [when we were] at 3-1 down was strange,” Robertson said.
Scott McTominay was one of several Scottish players who squandered excellent chances. He fired a shot off the crossbar in the first half, and had a brilliant shot stopped by the lunging foot of Odysseas Vlachodimos late in the game.
“This group of players are a credit to themselves and their country because they didn’t give up,” Clarke said. “They got the goal back, got to 3-2 and had chances to get the equalizer.”
“Some people might be happy with the improved performance, but I’m disappointed with the result. We got a lucky break, Belarus got a result in Denmark and that gives us everything to play for on Tuesday,” he said.
“It’s nice that [Belarus] have done us a favor,” he added.
In Tbilisi, Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice as Spain maintained their perfect form in World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 win on Saturday.
The European champion is poised to wrap up a spot in the finals when it meets Turkey in its last qualifier tomorrow.
Spain leads Group E by three points over Turkey, which beat Bulgaria 2-0 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Belgium was held to a 1-1 draw in Kazakhstan and missed a chance to qualify for the tournament.
Belgium leads Group J with two points over North Macedonia. Rudi Garcia’s side can still advance with a win over Liechtenstein in their final qualifier tomorrow.
Also in Group J, Jordan James scored as Wales won 1-0 at Liechtenstein.
Wales and North Macedonia are tied on 13 points in joint second place before they face-off tomorrow.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
Tony Jefferson intercepted a Jalen Hurts pass in overtime to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 22-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday in an NFL thriller between playoff contenders. Justin Herbert, playing a week after surgery on his broken left (non-throwing) hand, withstood a career-high seven sacks to throw for 139 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers. Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals, including the 54-yard game winner in overtime. The Chargers defenders forced Hurts to throw four interceptions and surrender a fumble for a career-worst five turnovers as the Eagles fell to 8-5 with a third
RSS